Maidenfine's Freeport Saga

[Maidenfine]

This is my third time running a campaign in Freeport. I have placed it within the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting. I love Freeport but I get burnout way too easily. This reboot of Freeport was inspired by DrNuncheon's Freeport Story Hour. I'm hoping that the third times a charm and I will finally do Freeport justice as a DM. That said, on with the show. . .




YK 1030
Cyena showed her ticket to the guards at the gate. She'd paid three times what it was worth to get in. Inside, she waited with the small crowd. She smiled inwardly at the number of depraved citizens in this town that fought for execution tickets. They're my kind of people, she thought.

Finally, the rapist arrived. He was the first to be executed this day. Cyena focused her mind.

Don't worry, Father. I will retrieve the half human child upon its birth. I will continue the mission. And your second child will as well.

As they placed his head upon the block, the rapist smiled. Her message had been received.





YK 1033
Cryden's eyes followed his target down the dock. He'd better make this count. They'd only given him one arrow. He saw his opening and took his shot, smiling as the Sea Lord crumpled to the ground. Quickly, he slid down the mast. He turned to run. . .

. . . and ran into Cyena with a thud.

"You smell of snakes," she said with a smile. But her smile was anything but friendly as she plunged her dagger into his heart.
As the Sea Lord's Guards ran along the dock, they paid no heed to the beggar and her small child. When they found the assassin, he was already dead.





Frosting, YK 1043
In the dark, a young man stumbled through the streets. Freeport hadn't changed at all. Of course, he wasn't sure how long he'd been gone.

Finally, he reached his destination. Luckily, the doors were unlocked. He ducked inside and marched straight to the waiting clerk.

"I am Lucius. I don't know how long I've been gone or where I've been, but I've returned to continue my work for the temple."






Mustering, YK 1044
"So we're on for dinner and a little romp tonight, right?" Selene'ya didn't eve have to look up from her mug to know that it was Ben.

"Not this century, Ben."

"I understand a busy schedule, but honestly. You won't even be alive next century."

"Depends on what you mean by this century. Besides, Ben, Selene is hooking up with the cutie in the corner." Annette smiled at the brunette half-elf in the corner booth. When he smiled back, she wiggled her fingers at him in a flirty wave. "He is so cute," she squeaked.

"Then you go home with him," Selene said. She glanced over at the half-elf. He was kinda cute.

"That would free up your schedule then, right?" asked Ben.

"No."

It happened the same every day. Ben wanted to hook up with Selene'ya, Annette wanted to hook Selene'ya up, and Selene'ya just wanted them to stay the hell away from her love life. If Annette hadn't been the best and only barmaid at The Black Swan, Selene would probably have never seen either of them.
It was time for her to get to work.

"Sorry guys. I gotta go. Some little boys need a little pain."
Annette rolled her eyes. "Don't you mean Finn wants you to beat up some poor schmoe with a poor shop?"

"You do your job, I do mine." As she headed for the door, Selene glanced at the brunette in the corner. He was cute.






As he walked into The Black Swan, Annette leaned over the counter, affording Frederick a great view of her cleavage.

"Hiya, Freddie! Your usual?"

He nodded as he headed to his usual booth in the corner. A few steps away he stopped dead in his tracks.

"You're sitting at my table."

The brunette gentleman looked up form his book. He smiled.

"Am I? Sorry. The barmaid didn't mention it. But by the look of you, we may have some things in common." As he reached down to pet his cat he nodded at the raven on Freddie's shoulder. "Mind if I join you?"

Freddie shrugged and took a seat as far form the stranger as possible while remaining at his table. Annette arrived with his drink, flashing an apologetic smile.

"Sorry about your table."

Freddie mumbled something to make her feel better and sipped his drink.

"I'm Malevir. I've only been here about a month. Just found this place. Anyway, I'm hanging around for Swagfest. I heard it's quite the celebration."

Freddie nodded and sipped his drink.

"Hey, you come here a lot. You must know this girl who was here earlier. She's got a fire tattoo on her arm. You know her?"

Freddie shook his head. He had no idea who this guy was talking about. He hurriedly finished his drink.

"Uh, listen," he said. "I gotta go. I have a job."

Freddie got up before Malevir had a chance to speak and left the Swan. He was disappointed that Malevir had spoiled his drink but he hadn't had much time anyhow. He headed off to Otto's. He had a new shipment of weapons to identify.






Maybe we'll be gone for hurricane season, Kiohrin thought as her entered the common room of the Rusty Hook. When he saw the look on Duma's face, however, things didn't seem promising.

"No one has seen them," she said. "But I know they have to be here. This is where we were supposed to meet."

They'd been in Freeport for six months looking for the twins. Their group was split up during their travels but they all knew Freeport was their next destination. No one's travel could be complete without a visit to Freeport. So here they were, wondering where in god's name Newlin and Nortz could be.

Kiohrin ordered breakfast and pretended to listen while Duma complained about losing Newlin and Nortz. Some days, she seemed to forget that just because the other three were all psionicists, that didn't mean they could locate each other instantaneously.

"Don't worry," he said. "We'll find them. They might not even be here yet. Just remember, they're looking for us too." He finished his burnt toast and strapped his veil across his face.

"Let's go, Duma. Lots to do today. Swagfest is next week. If we don't find them before then, we'll need jobs to wait out the rainy season."

Duma was finally silent as she absorbed what he had said. As Kiohrin reached the street she began to follow.

"What do you mean, jobs?"

 

[Maidenfine]

Swagfest

It was bright and sunny in Freeport when Swagfest finally arrived. Jesswin walked along with the crowd as it headed toward the docks. Festivities were to kick off at nine am. Soon, she could see the stage, despite its small size. It barely filled the street near the central pier.

Her target was not the only one on the stage. If she wasn’t on a job she might have been tempted to rob the whole lot of them. The Harbormaster was there, of course, with his beautiful wife. A young noblewoman and her bodyguard stood next to a cashing young elf with huge midnight blue wings. The sight of him almost broke Jesswin’s concentration. She refocused her attention on the task at hand.

As trumpets blared, Captain Lydon stepped to the front of the stage, raising his hands. He smiled and ran a hand through his scraggly mop of hair.

“Aarrgh, mateys! Welcome to Swagfest!” Jesswin fought to hear his words over the cheers of the crowd. “It be my honor to begin the festivities this year, as our great Sea Lord is busy with the preparations for his lighthouse. So, the responsibility falls to me to start things off. Are you ready or pillage and plunder?”

Jesswin’s eyes never strayed from the Captain as the crowd jostled her. Slowly, she made her way toward the stage. “Two hundred years ago, the fleets of Freeport first took to the waves with two mighty captains at the head. The landlubbers shuddered as we gave them fire and Freeport steel!”

At the conclusion of his sentence, Jesswin leapt, taking everyone by surprise. As the audience screamed, Jesswin plunged her dagger deep into Lydon’s chest. Madness ensued.

Jesswin dove off the stage as Lydon’s men sprung into action. As she races toward the pier, she vaguely noticed being pursued. Suddenly, fire flared in her side, followed quickly by sudden pain in her back. She didn’t have time to wonder how someone had shot her without her bracer reacting. She reached the end of the pier and plunged into the water. As she swam away she thought about the nice heavy purse she was going to get from Finn for this job.

 

[Maidenfine]

Swagfest continued. . .

“She kind of did a number there, diving into the water and all that. I wasn’t expecting that.”

Kiohrin looked around before spotting the gnome who had spoken to him.

“Uh, yeah. I figured I’d chase her but then she jumped in the water and, uh, that is, I’m not jumping in the water for someone else’s murderer.” Kiohrin kicked himself mentally at how stupid that sounded. He just hadn’t wanted to mention that growing up in a desert meant his swimming skills weren’t’ that great.

“Yeah, I can’t run real fast. I’m kind of a small guy.”

Kiohrin thought that was a bit of an understatement, but then again, he knew he was taller that average. He chuckled as they walked back to the stage area.

“I’m Kiohrin.”

“I’m Frederick.”

As they reached the stage area, the Harbormaster was taking over. A spot of blood was the only evidence that Captain Lydon had ever been there.

“Everyone please come back,” the Harbormaster pleaded. “Everything’s been taken care of. The Watch has everything under control and the Captain’s men have rushed him to a healer. He should be fine. There’s ten kegs of ale on their way if you’ll just come back.”

Kiohrin and Frederick were able to get front row spots as the crowd slowly trickled back.

“Now let’s get this thing on the road. The Great Raid did Freeport proud and no pirate more than One-Eyed Jack. He was lashed to the mast of Drac’s flagship and fought over a dozen fishmen with only a belaying pin. He was quite the salt to be reckoned with. So, in honor of him, is everyone ready for One-Eyed Jack’s Last Stand?”

As the crowd went wild, the Harbormaster pointed off to the side of the stage where a pole had been buried in the ground. A group of men stood nearby with padded staves, as the first contestant was tied to the pole.

 

[Maidenfine]

Off to See Finn

Selene'ya waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim light in The Hellhound Social Club. It was only open to the public one day out of the year. Finn would be here. Finally, she spotted him in a corner booth with several other halflings.

As she approached their booth, the halflings stopped their conversation. She hesitated before speaking to Finn.

"I saw Jesswin today," she said.

"Did you? How was she?"

Selene'ya wasn't even sure if Finn was involved. Jesswin had only worked for him a few times.

"She was really good." Really good at killing Captain Lydon, she thought.

"Well, that's good to hear." Finn was being deliberately vague. It was time to find out what he knew.

"He couldn't go on." she said. Maybe Finn wouldn't know what she was talking about. . .

But the look in his eyes said he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"It's nothing to worry about. Just a bit of long overdue business. You enjoy your day and I'll see you before your rounds tomorrow."

"Yes, sir." Selen'ya wasn't sure how comfortable she was with this. It was one thing to beat up small time shopkeepers, but the assassination of a political figure was dangerous.

As she left the club, Selene'ya decided to keep her nose in her own business. Finn could take care of himself. And it was Swagfest. There was no time for worrying on Swagfest.

 

[Maidenfine]

and now back to our regularly scheduled Swagfest...

By the time Selene'ya reached the docks, a number of contestants had already fallen in One Eyed Jack's Last Stand. As she headed toward the contest area, she asked a grizzled sailor if he knew what the number to beat was.

"Aye, lass. young Sven form the decks o' the Lady Wave beat down eight of Lydon's fishmen afore he fell. Never knew the boy had it in 'im."

The attendants finished untying the limp body of the most recent contestant. As it was dragged off, they turned to the crowd.
"Who's next?" What was left of the crowd after the ale carts' arrival looked to their shoes.

"I'll go." The attendant blinked in surprise as three volunteers stepped forward in unison.

Selene'ya looked to the other two. The tall one looked strong. He might do well. But the other volunteer was a gnome in robes. What is he thinking? She stepped back to allow one of them to go. Finally, it was decided that the gnome would go first.






As the attendants tied him to the pole, Frederick began to have second thought. I'm just a sorcerer. I don't have the strength for this. But he wasn't going to give up now.

As the first two "fishmen approached him, his heart pounded in his ears. He used what little movement room he had to dodge their blows as he smacked on in the head with his sap.

Amazingly, the man collapsed to the ground. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all. Another fishman quickly to the fallen man's place. Frederick squirmed to one side but he wasn't fast enough to avoid the new man's blow. As stars filled his vision he swung wildly toward the men. His swing drew him to one side, avoiding one blow but putting him right in the path of another. A third man came forward. Not watching his step, the man fell over his downed comrade. The man screamed as his nose smashed into the ground, leaving a blood smear. Frederick swung his sap back around, clipping another man in the process, but not hitting with enough force to cause any harm. As one of the fishmen helped his bleeding comrade off the field, the other slammed his sap into Frederick's head. As his head rocked back into the pole, his hand reacted automatically. He landed a weak blow in the man's stomach. As one man returned and two new men approached, Frederick prepared for the rain of blows. As he threw up his arms, their staves flew at him from all directions. Finally, he had had enough. As consciousness left him, he heard an attendant yelling out his score.

"Two men down for our gnome friend. Who's next?"

 

[Maidenfine]

Just some comments.

Okay. #1, Swagfest took up our entire first session, which lasted probably four hours. After the other two tries at One Eyed Jack's Last Stand, there are some side games. That is followed by another regularly scheduled Swagfest event where they meet some NPCs and go to a bar. I would skip all the rest of this and just go the next day but unfortunately, it would be hard to understand most of it without all the Swagfes stuff that happens. Things like the noble that smells absolutely horrid, or the PC who's irresistable to all men, especially the Sea Lord. Then there's Drinksmash and that actually comes back into the picture several times.
#2. I was somewhat stupid and tape recorded our first three sessions. While ordinarily this wouldn't be such a bad idea, we have a lot of side ocnversations that I then have to listen to as I'm transcribing it. So since I'm going to school full time and have a full time job, it's taking a while. After the six tapes that I have left ot listen to, I started taking notes. At that point, I will start posting A LOT more regularly. So for anybody out there that is actually interested in this story hour, it will get faster and more regular within probably the next month.
#3. This campaign gets really messed up after about session 5. I decided to experiment and allow evil and chaotic neutral characters. I usually don't do this. However, this time, I wanted to bring in some NPCs that weren't the picture of friendliness. So this campaign is a little strange, but a lot funny.
I think that's about it. Please, feel free to let me know what you think.

 

[Maidenfine]

The "fishmen" chuckled as Selene'ya was tied to the pole. I'll bet they think I'll be easier than the gnome, she thought. Well, let's see.

One man stepped forward with a gesture that said, "watch this." Selene'ya didn't wait for his attack to take him down viciously with the sap she'd been given. Watch this, indeed.
Suddenly, the fishmen were taking her more seriously. Two stepped forward. This time, she was unable to block their attacks, but she did succeed in taking another man down. As two more men stepped forward, the count became three. Quickly, Selene'ya took the number back down to two.

Finally, with four men attacking her, Selene'ya was unable to take any of them down. Their attacks made her skin sting all over where they hit.

Four was apparently the magic number. The remaining fishmen felt no need to rush into the fray. In less than a minute, Selen'ya lost consciousness, just as she took her last man down.

"Four down for the lady!" cried the attendant. "Do you still wish to try your hand, sir?"

Kiohrin stepped forward, fear absent in his eyes. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

 

[Maidenfine]

After the last two contestants, the "fishmen" were more than confident that they could take this one down. He was tall. Really tall. Too tall for any real muscle.The attendant look on as the first fishman stepped forward. As the fishman swung, the contestant easily moved to one side, returning with a light blow that only seemed to piss the fishman off. Two more men started to come forward but the first motioned them to stay back.

This time, the fishman connected with his hit, but the contestant seemed unfazed. Finally, he didn't stop another fishman from coming forward. As the contestant flailed his sap about, the first man again missed. His new comrade hit, receiving a scowl. A third fishman came forward, striking a soft blow while the other two squabbled between themselves. As a fourth fishman joined the fray, traffic got congested and the men tripped over each other. Suddenly, the contestant hit, his blow taking the first man down.
The attendant perked up. Maybe this fight will be interesting after all.

As a new fourth man entered the fray, he was unable to get a hit in before melting into the confusion around the contestant. Two of the fishmen managed to hit, their blows softened by the jostling of their comrades.

Then, the contestant closed his eyes in concentration. What is he doing, thought the attendant. Several men took this opportunity to strike but there were more misses than hits as the contestant dodged, his eyes still closed.

Suddenly, the contestant's eyes snapped open and he quickly took one man down. As a new man hesitantly stepped forward only one of the others held his ground to hit. He soon went down. As the remaining men regained their wits and promptly bludgeoned the contestant into unconsciousness, he managed to down another man.

He didn't win, but what a fight, thought the attendant before shouting. "Three men downed for the tall foreigner! Any more challengers?"

 

[Maidenfine]

Arm Wrestling and Drinksmash

After the beating he took in One Eyed Jack’s Last Stand, Frederick was feeling more brave. It wasn’t all that bad. So he entered the first tavern he saw and promptly entered their arm wrestling contest.

His first opponent was decent looking but not extraordinary. Frederick was pretty evenly matched. Merely his hunger to win almost defeated the other man straight away. Slowly, his opponent gained ground. Suddenly, Frederick became filled with rage. How dare he steal my win! Frederick slammed the other man’s fist down with a resounding thud.

With one victory under his belt, Frederick moved on to the next round. This opponent was slightly larger but Frederick wasn’t worried. He flexed his arms.

“Look at these gnome guns.” Apparently, his sad attempt at intimidation worked. Frederick finished off his second opponent in no time. With two more rounds to go, he could win the contest.

Frederick sat across from his new opponent. He heard someone nearby chuckle. “Hey, Gar. Warden’s wrestling’ a gnome.”

Frederick ignored their taunts. He knew how intimidation worked. Who cares if he looks fitter than and ox? I can still take him just like the last two. As soon as Frederick finished his thought, the match started. . .

. . . and finished. Frederick looked down in surprise to find his hand pinned to the table. He didn’t even bat an eyelash. As the victor, Warden apparently, walked over to kiss a barmaid,
Frederick walked out of the tavern in a daze.






As the door opened, every orc in Krom’s Throat turned to look at the oddity in the doorway. He was human, very tall, and wore a cape like non they had ever seen. It was a pale sandy color and very thin. He removed a veil from his face.

“Drinksmash!” the human shouted. Suddenly, he had become one of them as the orcs returned his cheer. A female orc approached Kiohrin.

“You. Me. Drinksmash.” She led him to one of the tables still standing near the center of the tavern. The tavern owner approached with a tray full of ale mugs. He left it with them and busied himself with replacing one of the kegs on the wall. As soon as he walked away from the keg, the fighting began over the space beneath the spigot.

Kiohrin turned his attention back to his new opponent. At his nod, she grabbed a mug and quickly gulped down its content. Then she proceeded to punch Kiohrin square in the face. He grinned as his nose bled. He picked up the next mug and gulped it down. He punched her in the eye, leaving a bright red mark. They took turns drinking and punching for several more rounds. Finally, her punch threw her off balance. She fell to the floor. She didn’t get up.

A cheer filled the tavern. The human had defeated one of their own in Drinksmash. After pats on the back and friendly words, Kiohrin finally left. He needed to let some of the alcohol wear off before the next big event.

 

[Maidenfine]

I should be able to post again tonight or tomorrow. I have a lot more stuff written but I haven't typed it yet.

For any of you that are wondering why you are reading this story hour, it's because you want to see the heart count. And you want to find out about the priest who knew too much and the murderous party that knew too little. When I said this campaign gets a little strange, I really wasn't kidding.